It's noon again.

The shouting and selling outside the building, the market gossip on the first floor, and the high-minded talk on the second floor, in this small 'rainbow carp hall', almost everywhere is full of people.

The reason why I say almost is because there is also the location of that account.

Behind the account, he was dressed in a white cloth robe, fiddling with the abacus with one hand and covering his face with the other, and yawned secretly.

"The second table has to be settled. Xiao Er, who was carrying a gray and black rag on his shoulder, walked to the account counter, looked at his tired appearance, and quipped, "What's wrong, Bai Xiucai, did you dream of a beautiful girl last night?"

"A chicken stewed mushroom, a leaping dragon gate, two bowls of rice, and a pot of tea, collect them 275 Wen. Bai Xiucai flicked the abacus with his index finger, pinched the wolf hair pen that was lying horizontally on the pen stand, and dipped it in slightly thin ink, "What's the matter, it's just that I rolled it off the bed last night." ”

Xiao Er laughed, nodded and wrote down the number he said, and trotted to explain to the guest officers.

Speaking of which, working in the rainbow carp pavilion, although it is a package of food and accommodation, it is not a place to eat big fish and meat and live in a first-class room. In fact, after working here for more than three years, Bai Xiucai has not been to the wing room on the third floor a few times. Except for Xiao Budian, who lived upstairs with the shopkeeper, the other guys lived in the four small brick houses in the backyard after drinking. The two running halls are crowded into one room, and the two cooks also live together, and Xiao Er and Bai Xiucai are in one room - but the single room of the two is much smaller than the room between the running hall and the cook, probably only one zhang wide and two zhang long, and there is no table at all, only a bed and a stool. When I sleep, I occasionally turn over and my head may hit the back of the chair.

But what is there to complain about? There are steamed buns to eat, a bed to sleep in, a salary to pay, and although the work is busy early and late, there is also a lot of time to sneak out of the busy schedule—although most of them are Bai Xiucai who sneaks out while the shopkeeper is not paying attention.

In life, if you can have a job to do, you can do it with peace of mind, and you can get a seven, seven, eight, eight, eight, or eight, and it will be good.

Bai Xiucai glanced at Xiao Er, who came with a fist, waved his pen, and made up a bill on the bill.

Xiao Er walked to the counter, released his fist, and handed him a few shiny silver, "The guest officer at that table gave these broken silvers, is it enough?"

Bai Xiucai took the broken silver, weighed it a few times, and blinked unexpectedly, "Earned." ”

"Huh?"

Xiao Er was also surprised.

Guests who pay with this kind of broken silver that does not have standard specifications are generally likely to give less. First, the store can only weigh how many copper coins this broken silver can be exchanged, and it is difficult to eat the specific amount of pounds; Earn some for each other, and see each other in the future.

But at this time, the amount of broken silver in Bai Xiucai's hand was about the appearance of more than five hundred yuan.

He squinted slightly, looked at the broken silver in his hand, and didn't see anything strange.

If it was said that the brocade fan who sat on the second floor of the elegant seat, his family was well-off, and he was rewarded with a wave of his hand, he could understand it very well - the old county guard did this every time. But the people sitting on the first floor are all small people who are not much different from the guys in this store, how can they be so generous?

Most of them are because they have eaten too much wine, and they have a swollen face and become fat...... No, there was no wine at that table just now.

Xiao Er looked at the broken silver in Bai Xiucai's hand, swallowed his saliva, poked his head out and asked, "Do you want to return some back?"

Bai Xiucai clenched his fists, shook his head and said, "Don't pay it back." ”

"If the guest at that table intends to do so, it will appear that we have a small belly when we return it, and if it is not intended to be so, we might as well push the boat down the river. ”

He smiled at Xiao Er, who was full of doubts, got up and turned around, and looked at the three rows of wine racks built against the wall behind the account table, and the black-brown clay pots of different sizes on the altar on it.

Although the cheap yellow and white wine used to decorate the restaurant on the wine shelves on this floor is not as good as the mellow products taken out of the underground wine cellar, these decorative wines with red blessings are still the best to send off guests.

Bai Xiucai took a small pot of rice wine from the wine shelf with one hand and stuffed it into Xiao Er's arms, "Go and give it to the guests at the table just now, just say that it was sent by the restaurant, don't say why." ”

Xiao Er took the wine jug with both hands and was slightly stunned, but as soon as his eyes rolled, he immediately understood Xiucai's intentions.

This pot of wine is definitely not worth three hundred yuan, but since it was given to those guest officials, as long as it is a little bit sophisticated, it will be embarrassing to take back those few pieces of broken silver. Silver, must be earned by the restaurant, and face, the guests are not less, isn't it the best of both worlds.

"Hehe, it's still Bai Xiucai who thinks thoughtfully, and he deserves to be a scholar!"

"Haha, Xiao Er, Xiao Er, what's the benefit of you patting my ass, go and deliver wine, and if you don't go to others, you will go away. ”

"Okay!"

Looking at Xiao Er, who ran away with a smoke, Bai Xiucai couldn't help but laugh a little.

He was about to sit down when his eyes casually swept over the wine rack behind him and landed on the bottom one.

There, a black clay pot stopped his gaze.

The clay pot is not big, it is only a small circle larger than the jar just sent out, not the largest jar in the three rows of wine racks; the clay pot is not pitch black, it is just a little darker than the altar just sent out, and it is not the darkest jar in the three rows of wine racks; the red blessing on the clay pot is more upright than the altar just sent out, and it is not the most upright red blessing in the three rows of wine racks.

But on this clay pot, there is a small red rope around it.

Because of the red rope, Bai Xiu can recognize this jar of wine.

It's a jar of daughter red.

It's the shopkeeper's daughter red.

Bai Xiucai sat down slowly, lifted the brush with one hand, and dialed the abacus with the other - but even though his eyes had returned to the ledger, in his mind, he still had the black can of daughter red.

It was probably the first year of his work at the Rainbow Carp Pavilion. On that day, because there was a lantern street in the county town, and the people all had a relationship of going home for the festival on the Shangyuan Festival, the restaurant closed early. At night, the shopkeeper took a jumping little little to the lantern street to see the lanterns, and the running hall and the kitchen either followed to the Lantern Festival, or went home to eat the Lantern Festival, leaving only the little two who were tired of watching the Lantern Festival and the Xiucai who were not interested in the Lantern Festival stayed in the restaurant. Although there were still a few guests living in the wing room on the third floor at this time, the first and second floors were empty because they were closed, and it seemed very spacious.

Bai Xiucai, who had just known each other for a short time, sat face to face with Xiao Er at both ends of a long table, no one knew what to say, and the air was very silent. But soon, Xiao Er, who has a flexible head, thought of a way that could immediately turn the two of them into friends who talked about everything-eating and drinking. But don't think about the high-quality goods in the underground cellar, both of them are reluctant to spit out the wages they have just received. Therefore, Xiao Er opened a few jars of cheap yellow white wine on the wine shelf, patted his chest and said a few words "Lao Tzu will pay" or something, and drank it.

However, there is a problem with cheap wine: it tastes light and is easy to get drunk. And these two guys who can't cook don't have any side dishes, and they drink them in a mixed way, and after a few cups, their faces turn red and their tongues are knotted. Soon, in less than a stick of incense, the two went from praising each other as 'a talent' to patting each other's shoulders and scolding each other for being an 'embroidered pillow'.

A few jars of wine were quickly drunk, but the two guys who were clearly already drunk claimed that they were not drunk, saying that they had a good amount of alcohol, and it would be no problem to have another five or six jars. Bai Xiucai, whose face was flushed, stood up and said, 'You invited just now, now I invite, between gentlemen, courtesies are exchanged', staggered to the wine rack step by step, reached out and took two jars of wine jars and put them on the table, and was about to open them.

Xiao Er, who was already drunk on the table, raised his head blankly, and saw the wine jar that Bai Xiucai was about to uncover, and suddenly a spirit jumped up like a tiger pounced, and held down Bai Xiucai's hand. Bai Xiucai looked up at him, and was just about to ask with his knotted tongue, Xiao Er shook his head desperately, and said drunkly: "This can can't be drunk, this can can't be drunk......"

Bai Xiucai was puzzled, but he also opened another jar of wine according to Xiao Er's wishes, poured a glass for both of them, and asked in a low voice the reason for Xiao Er's action just now. Xiao Er hesitated, took a sip of wine, and said slowly.

And he said, Ah, this jar of wine is not ordinary.

It was probably more than two years before Bai Xiucai came to the restaurant. One afternoon, the weather was not good, it was cloudy, and there were some rare vacant seats in the restaurant. After two runners helped serve tea and water, the idle Xiao Er went to the door to shout and solicit customers. After shouting for about a dozen times, I saw a white-haired old lady holding a gray burlap bag in her arms, trembling towards the restaurant. At first, Xiao Er thought that the old lady was here to hit the sharp, so he stepped forward to help him diligently, but the old lady shook her head, pushed him away, and said a name with her old lips. Xiao Er was stunned - he knew the name, it was the name of the shopkeeper. He also knew that the neighborhood rumors that the shopkeeper had become a monk since childhood, which was strongly opposed by the family - there was even a fierce claim that the shopkeeper was almost kicked out of the house by the family. The old lady in front of her, judging from her age, should she be ......

Xiao Er didn't dare to slack off, and hurriedly asked the old lady to sit in the store, but the old lady refused, just stood at the door. Xiao Er had no choice but to go upstairs and call down the shopkeeper, stay by the account counter by himself, and watch secretly from a distance. He watched the shopkeeper smile and walked quickly to the old lady and said a few pleasantries; he watched the old lady open her mouth and the shopkeeper was silent; he watched the shopkeeper's smile fade slowly until it became an indescribably complicated look; he watched the old lady hand over the cloth bag to the shopkeeper, turned around, and left the restaurant trembling step by step.

After the old lady left, the shopkeeper did not go downstairs for three days.

When Xiao Er saw her on the fourth day, the shopkeeper's face was bloodless, and his eyes were red and swollen. She held the jar with red string in her hand, slowly placed it on the bottom floor of the wine rack, and walked slowly back upstairs. After about a week, the shopkeeper regained his spirits, and entered and exited the restaurant with a smile, greeting the guests warmly as usual.

Later, Xiao Er heard from the well-informed neighborhood aunt that the wine jar tied with red string was the shopkeeper's daughter Hong, and it was the aged wine that her father buried under the osmanthus tree in the backyard when she was born. The shopkeeper was indeed kicked out of the house when he was young, and the old lady was indeed the shopkeeper's mother. And the old lady came this time just to tell her a piece of news.

The shopkeeper's father died.

Died on the Northern Front.

Died at the hands of the military barbarians.

Together with seven thousand veterans.

He had nothing left for her, only a jar of wine.

And when the old lady gave her the jar of wine, she turned away.

It was enough for her to see with her own eyes that she was doing well now.

There is only one sentence: "Don't worry".

This is the reason why Xiao Er didn't let Bai Xiucai open the jar of wine.

After listening to this whisper mixed with the smell of wine, Bai Xiucai sat on the chair, hanging his head, his face flushed.

I don't know if he drank too much and talked nonsense or something, but I heard him muttering intermittently.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry......"